Grain-door



(No Model.)

Patented May 11, 1897.

'A. J. GOLD.

GRAIN DOOR.

@vi/mmm 'lUNrrnn STATES ATENT irren.

ANDRW J. GOLD, OF STAPLES, MINNESOTA.

. -G RAIN-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 582,197, dated May 11,1897.

Application iiled Tune l, 1896. Serial No. 593,820. (No model.) I

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. GOLD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Staples, in the county of Todd and State of Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Doors; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXactdescriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My experience as a handler of freight-cars shows that it is the customto rest the graindoors of such cars against the inside jamb and that aviolent switching or jarring of any kind will shake the door out of itsplace and Waste much of the grain contained in the car. Furthermore, itis the custom in the grain districts that a car which takes graintherefrom is returned with a load of coal or other product. By reason ofthe fact that there is no proper means of securing the old form ofgrain-door in place it frequently happens that the grain-door of thecarin which the coal is loaded is nailed up at the side, top, andbottom, making it extremely diflicult to open this door When the side ofthe car in which this door is located is the nearest one to the dock.These and other disadvantages connected with the use of the old form ofgrain-door have led me to devise my present invention, which is designedto overcome all the defects in the old form of construction by providinga ready and convenient means for securing the grain-door iirmly andpositively in place to prevent the leakage of the grain therefrom and toprovide simple and convenient means for raising the grain-door when itis desired to empty a car.

The invention consists of a door slidingly mounted in suitable guides inthe door frame or jamb, the said door having beveled outer edges whichare covered With strips of rubber or other packing material, aspring-latch for holding said door in its elevated position, a ratcheton the outside of said door, and alever permanently fulcrumed in theinner edge of the door frame or jamb, which is adapted to engage theteeth on said ratchet to raise the door, has a laterally-extending armfitting over the top of the grain-door When the latter is in its closedposition, and is held in suitable supports on the side of the door-jamb,

Which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

' In the drawings, Figure 1 represents afront elevation of my device,looking toward the grain-door of the car from the inside of the car.Fig. 2 is a similar View looking from the opposite direction. Fig. 3 isa vertical section on the line @c x, Fig. l, looking toward the left insaid figure. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the leversfor raising the door and for securing the same in its closed position.Fig. 5 is plan view of the door, partlyin section. Fig. Gisahorizontalsection of the door-post and part of the door.

Like reference-numeralsindicate like parts in the different views.

The door frame or jamb 1 is recessed on its -inner side, as shown,forming side ledges 2 2,

between-Which the door 3 is adapted to slide, the said door beingprovided with outwardlyexten ding pins or projections 4 4, which movebeneath the guide-plates 5 5, secured to the door-jamb and projectinginwardly from the ledges 2 2 thereon.

To the upper end of the door-frame are secured, on each side thereof,springs 6 6, provided With hooks 7 7 on their inner surfaces, which areadapted to engage the projections i 4 on vthe door 3 and support saiddoor in its upper position. The lowersill 7a of the frame 1, at pointson a level with the floor of the car, has secured to it lugs or stops 88 for holding the door 3 in close contact With the frame or jamb 1 whensaid door is in its closed position. The said dooris further provided,at a point near its lower inner end, with a loop or handle 9, by meansof which it may be raised from the inside and supported by hook andstaple from the rafter in the roof of the car. The said door has alsosecured to the outside thereof, at points near its outer edges,ratchet-plates 10 10, Which are adapted to be engaged, for the purposeof raising the door, by levers 11 11, fulcrumed in elongated slots'12 12to the inner edges of the door-frame 1. The said levers have extendingoutwardly therefrom arms or projections 13 13, Which are adapted to fitover the top of the door to IOO hold said door in its closed position.Extending through the arms or projections 13 are screws 14 14 forforcing the said door downward and locking it. The extreme upper ends ofthe levers 11 11 have laterallyextending headed pins 15 15 thereon,which fit into recesses 16 16 in the inner edge of the frame 1, the samepassing through a keyholeslot 17 in a plate 18, iitting over saidrecesses 16. The said frame is provided with a second series of recesses19, covered with plates 20, similar in all respects to the recesses 16and plates 17, but located at points a little below and a little fartheroutward than the recesses 16, the same being provided for the purpose ofsupporting` the upper ends of the levers 11 when the door 3 is in itsupper position. The door 3 has further secured to its outer side a loopor bail 21, by means of which said door may be elevated by hand from theoutside after the pressure of the grain from the inside has beenrelieved.

From what has been said it will be evident that the door 3 is heldiirmly in its closed position, when the car is filled with grain, bymeans of the engagement of the arms or projections 13 and the screws 14therein with the upper edge of said door. Leakage of grain is alsoprevented from the car by reason of the close fit between the door 3 andthe frame 1 made by the strips of rubber in the outer edges of saiddoor. When it is desired to open the door 3, it may be readily donewithout the use of crowbars and other implements of a similar characterwhich are now used by sim ply rem ovin g the pins 15 from the recesses16 in the frame 1, loosening the screws 14 in the arms 13 and drawingdown the upper ends of the levers 11, bringing their lower ends intoengagement with the ratchets 10 on the outside of the door 3. The saiddoor can by this means be readily elevated a sufeient distance to allowTthe grain to flow out from the under side of the door 3, relieving thepressure from the door, and then the door may be readily raised by handto its extreme upper position, being held and supported in said upperposition bythe engagement of the hooks 7 with the projections 4 upon theouter edge of the door 3.

Having now described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination with a door frame orjamb, of a door slidingly mounted therein, ratchets upon the outside ofsaid door adjacent to its outer edges, levers fulcrumed in the inneredges of said frame whose lower ends are adapted to engage the teeth onsaid ratchets to raise said door and arms or projections on said leversadapted to engage the upper ends of said door for holding the lattersecurely in its closed position.-

2. The combination with a door frame or jamb, of a door slidinglymounted therein, ratchets upon the outside of said door adjacent toitsouter edges, levers fulcrumed in the inner edges of said frame whoselower ends are adapted to engage the teeth on said ratchets to raisesaid door, arms or projections on said levers and screws extendingthrough said arms adapted to engage the upper end of said door to forcesaid door downward and hold the same securely in its closed position.

3. The combination with a door-frame having recesses in its upper inneredges and plates having keyhole-slots therein covering said recesses, ofa door slidingly mounted in said frame, ratchets upon the outside ofsaiddoor adjacent to its outer edges, levers fulcrumed in elongatedslots on the inner edges of said frame, whose lower ends are adapted toengage the teeth on said ratchets for raising the door, and headed pinsprojecting laterally from the upper ends of said levers, the said pinsbeing adapted to he inserted through the keyhole-slots in the platescovering therecesses in the inner edges of said frame.

4. The combination with a door-frame having recesses in its upper inneredges and plates having keyhole-slots therein covering said recesses, ofa door slidingly mounted in said frame, ratchets upon the outside ofsaid door adjacent to its outer edges, levers fulcrumed in elongatedslots in the inner edges of said frame, whose lower ends are adapted toengage the teeth on said ratchets for raising the door, arms orprojections on said levers, screws extending through said arms, adaptedto engage vthe upper end of said door to force the latter downward andhold it inV ing witnesses. t

ANDREW J. GOLD. Vi tn esses ISAAC N. SMITH, CHAs. O. LIcHTroo'r.

IOO

